Conference Call on Russian Election

RAND experts on Russia will participate in a media conference call to discuss implications of the March 4 presidential election in Russia, including:

• Potential scenarios for the outcome
• Prospects for heightened political activism and grassroots opposition to Vladimir Putin
• the effects of the soccer riots on the legitimacy of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces
• Plans and goals Putin would likely pursue in a third term as president
• Likely impact on U.S.-Russian relations.

Andrew Weiss is director of the RAND Center for Russia and Eurasia and served as director for Russian, Ukrainian, and Eurasian Affairs on the National Security Council staff under President Clinton, as well as in other Russia-related policy positions at the State Department and Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Olga Oliker is director of the International Security Policy Department and a senior international policy analyst at RAND. Her research focuses on international relations and national security policy, particularly U.S.-Russia relations. She is the author, most recently, of "Building Afghanistan's Security Forces in Wartime: The Soviet Experience," and co-author of "Nuclear Deterrence in Europe: Russian Approaches to a New Environment and Implications for the United States."

11 a.m. ET, Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Members of the media covering foreign and defense policy

Call RAND Media Relations Officer Joe Dougherty at (703) 413-1100, ext. 5137 or email media@rand.org